This Faribault Daily News article by Joseph Lindberg was originally published on Wed, 10/26/2011.
To most, old windmill towers and piles of scrap angle-iron are nothing but junk. But a Cannon City Township man sees those cast-away pieces for their true potential: year-round energy-producing machines. Gerald Bauer’s backyard is a mecca of renewable energy engineering. He has a pair of solar panels rigged to “track” the sun as it bridges the sky, not to mention two wind towers stitched together by sheer ingenuity and dozens of trips to the scrap yard.
“It’s the right thing to do,” said Bauer, 69. With the help of industrial pulleys and a clever hinge system, he raised his second wind tower this week. Bauer probably doesn’t know what a utility bill looks like any more. He hasn’t paid one in two years. His setup produced more than 17,000 kilowatts in 2011, and that’s with only one wind tower. In 2009, the average U.S. household consumed about 11,000 kilowatts, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Those extra kilowatts? They’re likely powering a dryer somewhere. Bauer is enrolled in the Xcel Energy Solar*Rewards Program, an incentive that pays him $2.25 per watt produced by his panels, according to Xcel Energy program documents.
“The components come from all around, and it’s not cheap,” said Bauer as he looked over his backyard power production. While many of the structures he engineered himself, major power components were bought separately. Inverters, which convert the power produced by wind or the sun into usable energy, are about $6,000, Bauer said. All told, he has more than $90,000 invested in his energy production. “It’ll pay for itself,” he said. Bauer’s lot is filled with tools and fabrication materials, all the hallmarks of farmstead engineering. Besides the rewards program — which on good months can net him a $300 check — federal tax credits covered 30 percent of the cost, according to the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which was enhanced by the stimulus bill passed in 2009.
“It’s been a tremendous amount of work,” said Barbra Bauer, Gerald’s wife. She said it took most of last year to build what Gerald affectionately calls the “Candlestick,” a 108-foot multi-armed wind tower neatly tucked behind the solar arrays. Nowhere is Gerald’s prowess more evident than the tracking system built into his solar arrays. The planetary drive from an old 6600 John Deere combine along with other electronic bits help the array follow the sun throughout the day, boosting energy output 20 percent. He had to sign a waiver with the power companies, who were skeptical about how well they would perform. “I’ve got the parts, and they work,” said Gerald. “I wasn’t too worried about signing that waiver.”
His neighbor, Gary Wunderlich, built a wind tower in 1988, which inspired Gerald to pursue his own energy options. The 70-foot tower he raised this week borrowed the design from Wunderlich. Rice County and Faribault have both overhauled their wind and solar energy codes in recent years to cope with increased interest in alternative energy. Gerald will keep tinkering as long as there are improvements to be made.
“I’m still working on him about the cleanup,” Barbra said, motioning behind the large shed where much of Gerald’s fabrication take place. Tractors, rutted ground and materials dot the space. Gerald didn’t miss a beat. “So maybe some flowers around the towers? Maybe some pumpkins?” he asked with a laugh.
